Early quantitative sociolinguistics and quantitative corpus linguistics tended to neglect discourse-pragmatic features, i.e., linguistic items or expressions such as pragmatic particles, discourse markers, quotatives, intensifiers, general extenders, tag questions, etc. which are related by virtue of operating in the interpersonal and/or textual domains. It is only in recent decades that quantitative paradigms have witnessed a limited expansion in the study of these features. Amongst other things, these studies have demonstrated that the distribution of discourse-pragmatic features in the linguistic system is far from random, that changes in their usage and distribution are structured and principled, that many of their synchronic properties derive from the processes constituting grammaticalization, and that the social embedding of variation and change in their use may diverge from that of phonological or morpho-syntactic variables (see, for example, Aijmer 2002; Andersen 2001; Cheshire et al. 2005; D’Arcy 2005; Macaulay 2005; Tagliamonte & D’Arcy 2009). Yet despite the moderate upsurge in the quantitative study of discourse-pragmatic features, it is fair to say that discourse variation analysis is still at an embryonic stage (Macaulay 2002). There is little consensus in terms of methodology; analyses tend to focus on a few languages, a limited selection of variables as well as external constraints on variation; and quantitative studies of discourse-pragmatic change are often hampered by the shallow time-depth of synchronic corpora. These factors impede significant advancements and the formulation of a holistic theory of how discourse-pragmatic features vary and change.

The purpose of DiPVaC 2012 is to bring together scholars interested in the quantitative analysis of discourse-pragmatic features from any language variety, with the aims of: 1. discussing methodological, empirical and theoretical issues in the quantitative analysis of discourse-pragmatic features;2. assessing the current state of the field and exploring new directions of enquiry; 3. promoting the quantitative analysis of discourse-pragmatic features within and beyond (variationist and corpus) linguistics; and4. launching an international network of scholars working on discourse-pragmatic variation and change and providing a framework for future collaborations between participants.

We welcome papers dealing with, but not restricted to, the following topics · methods in the quantitative analysis of discourse-pragmatic features · sociolinguistic patterns of discourse-pragmatic variation and change · social and geographical diffusion patterns of innovative discourse features · (language-internal) patterns of geographical variation in discourse-pragmatics · the role of discourse-pragmatic features in the construction and negotiation of social identities · discourse-pragmatic variation and change in contexts of language contact · contrastive/cross-linguistic studies of discourse-pragmatic variation and change · the acquisition of discourse-pragmatic variation by children and second language learners · socio-perceptual studies of discourse-pragmatic variation · discourse-pragmatic variation across interactional, situational and technological settings· implications & applications of discourse variation analysis within and beyond linguistic theory